PERSPECTIVE OKLAHOMA FARM BUREAU
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Safety Seminar offers ATV training
A total of 26 teenagers were given the opportunity to learn about proper All Terrain Vehicle safety at the annual Oklahoma Farm Bureau Safety Seminar, June 12-14, in Stroud. Officials with the OFB Safety Services department said 2012 was the first year for the camp to include a session on ATV training. Certified instructors covered lessons on riding gear, pre-ride inspections, proper use of the machine and overall ATV safety. “ATVs have become a very common tool on farms and a lot of kids use them in gathering cattle, hauling trailers and other farm tasks,” said OFB safety specialist David Turner. “We’re introducing this program because we want kids to be safer in life and also give them a good understanding about how to use this kind of equipment.” After completing the course, the students received an ATV safety certificate. Other annual activities at the three-day Teens practice seminar included a rollover driving the ATV simulator demonstracourse at Stroud’s tion from the Oklahoma Tatanka Ranch. Highway Safety Council, a team building ropes course and also new this year, gun safety and shooting sports training from the Oklahoma Wildlife Department. (Continued on page 2)
June 29, 2012
In This Issue • OFB Safety Seminar • Wichert receives AITC Award • Bolay joins communications dep • Spradling visits Israel • Details on HB 3110 • AFBF PR Awards • Women in Ag Conference
Take note of summer deadlines OFB members should submit their Farm Family of the Year applications to their Women’s committee district representative by Aug. 1. The state deadline for Farm Family of the Year, YF&R Achievement Award and YF&R Excellence in Ag is Aug. 15. See the Women and YF&R program pages on the OFB website for links to the award applications.
Wichert receives national Ag Advocate award Long-time Major County Farm Bureau member Clara Wichert recently received the National Ag In The Classroom Ag Advocate award at the National AITC Conference in Loveland, Colo., June 19-22. The national award recognizes volunteers for their efforts to promote agricultural literacy and use creative strategies to teach students about the importance of agriculture. Wichert developed an ag literacy program in the Fairview school district more than 20 years ago that is still in rotation today. Every month, the farmer visits her local elementary school to teach a project from Oklahoma’s Ag in Clara Wichert farms with the Classroom program. Wichert’s lessons focus her family near Fairview. on subjects including science, math and physical education while also incorporating important facts about agricultural commodities and rural safety issues. Her AITC involvement dates back to 1981 when the program’s first organizational meeting was held. The program is sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry in partnership with the State Department of Education and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. Wichert is a charter member of the AITC advisory board and continues to serve on the board today. Wichert received an all-expense-paid trip to the National AITC Conference where she was honored with a $500 stipend and the Ag Advocate award.
Member Benefits
• EZ Ranch Software – Offers its profit
and loss herd management software to OFB members at 15% off. Call 888-EZ RANCH or visit www.ez-ranch.com.
• Air Evac Lifeteam – Emergency air
OFB Safety Seminar continued ... “So many kids work on the farm, so we want to make their lives better by teaching them the different safety aspects of rural life and making sure they’re aware of what can happen,” Turner said. The OFB safety seminar is open to teenagers between 14 and 17 years of age. For more information, contact any of Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s 77 county offices.
service for rural areas that offers members a reduced annual fee. See your county FB office for an application.
OFB highlights a few benefits in each issue of Perspective as a reminder of the savings available to OFB members. Find a complete list of savings online at okfarmbureau.org.
OFB Calendar FBW Summer Conference July 13-14 • Ada Contact: Marcia Irvin, (405) 523-2405 OSU Big 3 Field Days July 17-19 • Stillwater Contact: Thad Doye, (405) 523-2307 OYLA Conference July 23-26 • Stillwater Contact: Holly Carroll, (405) 205-0069
2012 OFB Safety Seminar participants
Oklahoma Farm Bureau Online Monitor the latest Farm Bureau and agricultural news and information online at okfarmbureau.org. Currently online: • OFB Award App Deadlines – The application deadlines for OFB awards are a little more than a month away. See the Women’s and YFR pages under the Programs button to download applications such as the Farm Family of the Year award. • Harvest Watch – OFB’s four farming families are reviewing harvest and planning for other summer activities on the OFB Harvest Watch blog. See our OFB homepage to click on the logo.
www.okfarmbureau.org
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OFB applauds 2012 scholarship winners Summer is here but recent high school graduates are already looking ahead to their first semesters of college this fall. As students prepare for a new chapter in their lives, Oklahoma Farm Bureau would like to remind its 77 counties to send us your county scholarship winners for recognition in Perspective. Farm Bureau scholarships on even a county level can help a student plan for not only their education but also their future career. Just ask OFB Executive Director Monica Wilke who received Tillman County Farm Bureau’s first county scholarship in 1992. “I’ll never forget my Farm Bureau scholarship,” Wilke said. “What a great example of how this organization can make a difference in the life of a young person. I was grateful for the scholarship then and I’m proud of where it’s brought me today.” OFB congratulates all of its past and present scholarship winners.
Bolay joins communications team Perry native Karolyn Bolay began working in the corporate communications and public relations department as a communications specialist on June 6. In 2011, she received a degree in agricultural communications from Oklahoma State University with minors in agricultural economics and leadership education. During her undergraduate career, she also interned with the OFB communications department. Bolay says she is excited to be back with OFB and is looking forward to working with the many members of the organization. Bolay returns to OFB from Stillwater where she previously worked as a development associate for the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation. She grew up on a farm in Perry where her family started a pumpkin patch in May of 2000. During her OSU career, Bolay was very involved in the 4-H program and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, cooking, and reading. Bolay says she also looks forward to getting involved in a church and seeking out OKC volunteer opportunities.
Spradling visits Israel for “Agritech” In May, Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Mike Spradling traveled overseas for a 10-day excursion in the country of Israel. Spradling and 11 other state agricultural leaders were chosen by Oklahoma Agriculture Secretary Jim Reese to attend the conference Agritech Israel 2012 and learn about new conservation technology in agriculture. “We’re doing a great job of recognizing the importance of our natural resources and the conservation that goes along with that here in the United States,” Spradling said. “But in Israel, they’re doing their conservation by necessity. Every drop of water counts.” Spradling and the Oklahoma team studied the latest drip irrigation technology and learned more about the conservation potential of plasticulture. “There’s things we saw out in the desert that you couldn’t believe grew at all but by the utilization of this technology, they’re a contender for production,” he said.
LEFT – OFB President Mike Spradling and 11 other leaders in Oklahoma agriculture attended the 18th International Agriculture Exhibition & Conference known as Agritech Israel 2012.
RIGHT – Mike Schulte (left), Executive Director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission and OFB President Mike Spradling tour a field of wheat during their 10-day visit to Israel. The trip focused on new agriculture conservation technology and how it’s applied in farm production.
New ad valorem tax exemption helps livestock owners By Brent Howard, LL.M. Jackson County Farm Bureau The Oklahoma legislature took a great step forward this past session to offer more liability planning flexibility for Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers. With the passage of HB 3110, the State of Oklahoma now permits ad valorem tax exemption for livestock owned by closely held entities, but only if the entities are owned by members of the same family. First, a little background: The Oklahoma State Constitution provides for the exemption from ad valorem taxation of household goods and livestock employed in the support of a family. Okla. Const. Art. X, Sec. 6(b). A previous Attorney General issued an opinion on this provision that stated “in support of a family” was limited to farmers and/or ranchers that owned the livestock in their individual name or as sole proprietorships. If livestock were owned through a limited liability company, a family partnership or a corporation, the livestock should have been subject to the county’s ad valorem taxes. The conflict that arises here is that all of the forms of ownership that allowed for exemption from property taxes would subject the farmer or rancher to unlimited liability in the event of a lawsuit. For example, if a fence went down and cattle were out at night and caused a significant automobile accident, the rancher and his insurance would have to pay all judgments that arose from that accident; even to the point of having to sell land, if the judgment far exceeded liability coverage. Under the previous Attorney General ruling, there was no way to limit the liability to just the cattle unless you wanted to pay ad valorem taxes on all of the cattle. The new law, which can be found at Title 68 Okla. Stat. §2807.1, approves the use of family limited liability entities, trusts, and estates. The law interprets the clause (in the state Constitution) “in support of the family” to include any entity where a family unit, consisting of common descendents and surviving spouses, (e.g. father/son, siblings, cousins, or widows) to be exempt from ad valorem taxation on livestock if no one outside of the family owns interests. The new law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2013, and also would apply to personal property taxes.
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Published by Oklahoma Farm Bureau Postmaster: address corrections to: Published bySend Oklahoma Farm Bureau
Oklahoma Farm Bureau 2501 N. Stiles Oklahoma City, OK 73105-3126
Perspective, P.O. B. 53332, OKC, OK 73152-3332 Postmaster: Send address corrections to: Perspective, P.O. B. 53332, OKC, OK 73152-3332
Staff Directory Staff Directory Gail Banzet, 523-2346
Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 131 Okla. City, OK.
Perspective/Online News Editor Traci Morgan, 523-2346 Monica Wilke, 523-2303 Perspective/Online News Editor Executive Director Sam Sam Knipp, Knipp, 523-2347 523-2347 Vice Vice President President of of Communications/PR Communications/PR Kinsey Money, 523-2539 Director of Public Policy Tyler Norvell, 523-2402
Marla Peek, 523-2437 Vice President of Public Policy Director of Regulatory Affairs MarlaKidd, Peek,523-2539 523-2437 Chris Director of of State Regulatory Affairs Affairs Director and National
Communications division wins PR awards The Oklahoma Farm Bureau Corporate Communications and Public Relations team received four national awards during the American Farm Bureau Public Relations conference in Traverse City, Mich., June 9-12. The awards recognize excellence in communicating agriculture and Farm Bureau’s message. Oklahoma Farm Bureau competed against other state Farm Bureaus in the large-state (over 80,000 members) category. Awards won by the OFB team include: Best Audio Feature: Winner Dave Lane Award for Media Relations Excellence: Honorable Mention Best Single Photo: Honorable Mention Best News Story: Honorable Mention *Visit http://goo.gl/PstCc to hear the OFB award-winning audio story. AFBF Best Use of Single Photo – Honorable Mention
Honorable Mention
AFBF Best News Story
Register now for annual Women in Ag Conference The Oklahoma Statewide Women in Agriculture and Small Business Conference is coming to the Moore Norman Technology Center in Oklahoma City, Aug. 9-10. The conference will feature educational keynote speakers including Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese, cattleman Jim Whitt, Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb and Miss Oklahoma 2011 Betty Thompson. The event also will offer two days of informative sessions, a mini mall of made-in-Oklahoma products and an evening reception. For registration information and other details, call (405) 744-744-9836 or visit okwomeninagandsmallbusiness.com. RIGHT – Jerri Parker is one of Oklahoma’s many women in agriculture. She manages a natural beef operation near Cromwell.
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